2025/09/29 by Amy Brooke Grauley · 2 voices · 3 citations
Social Sciences · #Affect (linguistics) #Context (archaeology) #Electoral Systems and Political Participation #Elite #Identification (biology) #Migration, Refugees, and Integration #Nationalism #Politics #Religion and Society Interactions #Rhetorical question #Vignette
paper · pdf · doi:10.1007/s11109-025-10074-y
published in Political Behavior (Springer Science+Business Media)
openalex publication_date 2025/09/29 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/04
Abstract The rise of Christian Nationalism as a social and political identity has had widespread effects on American politics, yet little is known about the factors that influence individual identification with Christian Nationalism. I argue that identification with Christian Nationalism is partially shaped by the elite cues, specifically the rhetorical context within which individuals are exposed to the term. I test this theory in two preregistered vignette experiments on a sample of American Christians. Results show that elite cues significantly affect identification: negative cues notably decrease identification, especially among individuals without strong pre-existing beliefs. These findings demonstrate that elite discourse plays a powerful and enduring role in shaping public support for Christian Nationalism.